Carburetor mounting for air cleaner



Aug. 20, i968 1 J. M. sPLAwsKl 3,397,519

CARBURETOR MQUNTING FOR AIR CLEANR Filed sept. 29, 1965 BY @e7-4,9 aAZk/WTORNEYS United States Patent O 3,397,519 CARBURETOR MOUNTING FOR AIR CLEANER Joseph Max Splawski, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Badger Manufacturing Corporation, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Filed Sept. 29, 1965, Ser. No. 491,206 9 Claims. (Cl. 55-505) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A C-shaped clamp for attaching an air cleaner to a carburetor air horn having a lock plate interconnecting a brace piece and a tension finger. The clamp includes a fastener extending from the lock plate and threadedly engaged in a bore of a neck of the air cleaner to mount the clamp and urge it towards the neck to cause the'v tension finger to engage a bead on the carburetor air horn to cause the neck to become seated against the bead.

This invention relates to a carburetor air cleaner attachment and in particular to a novel C-clamp for readily removably attaching an air cleaner unit to a carburetor air horn.

A significant percentage of carburetors currently being manufactured are constructed with a bead formed about the cylindrical air horn. This bead, while performing an initially desirable function, tends to inhibit the ready adaptation of standardized air cleaner units.

Various devices have been employed to secure standard air cleaners about the beaded horn. However, such devices have proven to be more costly and complex than desired.

Accordingly, it is a principal object of this invention to provide a means for securing a standard air cleaner to a beaded carburetor air horn which is efiicient in both construction and use.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a C-clamp for mounting an air cleaner about a beaded type carburetor air horn.

It is another object of this invention to provide a C-clamp having a tension finger for securing an air cleaner to a bead formed about a cylindrical carburetor air horn.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a carburetor air cleaner having a minimum number of attachment parts for developing a rm mounting to a beaded type carburetor air horn.

These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be understood in greater detail from the following description and associated drawings wherein reference numerals are utilized in designating a preferred embodiment and wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a partially sectioned view of a standard air cleaner as mounted about a beaded type carburetor air horn and showing the orientation of a C-clamp according to this invention;

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view of a portion of the air cleaner assembly shown in FIGURE l illustrating the structure of the C-clamp of this invention; and

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view as taken along the lines III-II'I of FIGURE 1 showing a bottom View of the C-clamps of this invention as mounted about a beaded type air horn.

A preferred embodiment of this invention is shown generally in FIGURE 1 as comprising an air cleaner unit which is mounted about a carburetor air horn 11. The air cleaner unit 10 consists of an A-bracket 12 having outwardly extending feet 13 and 14 which are secured by welding or the like to a cylindrical telescope base 15. The base 15 consists of a cylindrical wall 16, an outwardly extending shelf 17 and an upwardly extending collar 18. The feet 13 and 14 of the A-bracket 12 are provided to rest at the shelf 17 and to abut the inner surface of the collar 18 for making a firm junction therewith. Also, the feet 13 and 14 are fitted within grooves formed at the surface of the shelf 17 as indicated by the dotted raised surface 19.

The A-frame 12 provides the main support for the air cleaner element or filter unit. Principally, a cylindrical screen 20 is fitted about the A-bracket 12 and has a lower extremity 21 received at the interior of the collar 18. The screen 2'1 is provided to have suicient diameter to develop a tight fit within the collar 18 to avoid unnecessary motion between the cooperable members.

To maintain the positioning of an air cleaner element, a cover 22 is disposed about the entire upper assembly including the A-bracket 12 and the cylindrical screen 20. The cover consists of cylindrical walls 23 and a dome 24 formed integrally therewith. The dome 24 is provided with a central bore 25, and the A-bracket 12 is likewise provided with a bore 26 which is axially aligned with the bore 2S. A thread is formed at the interior of the bore 26, and a bolt 27 is inserted through the opening 25 for being threadedly received within the A-bracket 12 at the bore 26. By tightening the cover 22 relative to the A-bracket 12 the upper Wall segment 28 is compressed against the upper extremity 29 of the cylindrical screen 20, for further securing the screen 20 into a locked position within the assembly.

The air cleaner structure is completed with the insertion of an air cleaner element 30 intermediate the outer surface of the screen 20 and the inner surface of the cylindrical cover wall 23. The air cleaner element 30 takes the form of a cylindrical shell and is provided to make a tight union between the Screen 20 and the cover 22 to assure that air entering the cleaner interior will be caused to pass through the cleaner element. The movement of air through the system therefore is as indicated by the arrows of FIGURE l.

The air cleaner unit is mounted about an upper sleeve 31 of the air horn 11 and is secured to a bead 32 extending radially therefrom by attachment clips 33 and 33a.

The attachment clip 33 is shown in greater detail in FIGURE 2 and consists of a lock plate 34, a brace piece 35, and a tension finger 36. The brace piece 35 extends inwardly from an inner surface 37 of the lock plate 34 and contacts the outer surface 38 of the cylindrical air cleaner wall 16. The tension finger 36 is also formed integrally with the lock plate 34 and extends inwardly from the inner surface 37 for contacting a lower tapered wall 39 of the be-ad 32. The angle 'y between the tension finger 36 and the lock plate 34 is shown in FIGURE 2 as being an obtuse angle for providing a spring relationship between the finger 36 and the plate 34.

The clip 33 is mounted to the telescope neck or cylindrical air cleaner wall 16 through the provision of axially aligned openings 40 and 41 formed within the lock pl-ate 34 and within the lower extremity of the wall 16, respectfully. The opening 41 has an edge or lip 42 formed to provide a thread thereabout. The clip 33 is mounted about the air cleaner assembly by a screw 43 having a head 44 and a shaft 45 which extends through the opening 40 for being threadedly received within the opening 41. To allow excess length for the shaft 45 a bore 46 is formed axially of the openings 40 and 41 within the cylindrical wall 31 of the air horn 11.

It is apparent from FIGURE 2 that the tightening of the screw 43 within the opening 42 has the effect of urging the air cleaner unit 10 into engagement with the carburetor air horn 11. Principally, the tightening of the screw 43 simultaneously maintains the alignment of the openings 40 and 41 and causes the tensioning finger 36 to progress inwardly toward the air horn 11. The inward progression of the tension finger 36, however, is constrained into a downward direction by the tapering of the w-all 39 associated with the bead 32. This downward motion of the tensioning finger 36 is felt through the screw 43 at the air cleaner telescope neck 16. The result is that the air cleaner unit is moved into firm engagement with the upper tapered surface 47 of the bead 32.

In addition to providing the clamping function between the air cleaner unit and the carburetor air horn, the C-clamp 33 is self-locking. In particular, the locking plate 34 is maintained in spaced relation with the cylindrical wall 16 of the air cleaner assembly via the brace piece 35 and the tension finger 36. In this way, tightening the screw 43 tends to deflect the locking plate 34 such that the inherent resiliency of the clamp exerts an outward force on the screw 43. This outward force holds the screw and air cleaner assembly in firm engagement and prevents the loosening of the system by vibrations or the like.

It will be understood from this description that various modifications may be suggested by the embodiment disclosed, but I desire to claim within the scope of the patent warranted hereon all such modifications as come within the scope of my invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. A combination comprising:

a carburetor air horn having an external bead adjacent one end of a wall and a bore formed in said wall between said bead and said end;

an air cleaner having a neck, said neck having a threaded bore adjacent one end thereof, said air cleaner being mountable on said air horn ywith said neck being telescopically received on said wall with said threaded bore in alignment with said bore of said wall;

a C-shaped one-piece clip having a center portion interconnecting -a pair of legs extending outwardly therefrom, one of said legs being engaged with said neck, the other leg being engaged with an underside of said bead;

and a threaded member extending through said center portion and being threadedly engaged in said threaded bore to urge said clip toward the telescoped neck and to defiect said other leg to urge the telescope neck toward said bead.

2. A combination comprising:

a carburetor air horn having an extending bead adjacent one end and a sleeve having a bore mounted on said end;

an air cleaner having a neck, said neck having a threaded bore adjacent one end thereof, said air cleaner being mountable on said air horn with said neck being telescopically received on said sleeve with said threaded bore in alignment with said bore of said sleeve;

a C-shaped one-piece clip having a center portion interconnecting a pair of legs extending outwardly therefrom, one of said legs being engaged with said neck, the other leg being engaged with an underside of said bead;

and a threaded member extending through said center portion and being threadedly engaged in said threaded bore to urge said clip toward the telescoped neck and to deflect said other leg to urge the telescoped neck toward said bead.

3. An air cleaner assembly for mounting on a carburetor air horn having a bead thereupon, comprising:

an air cleaner having a neck for telescopic engagement on the air horn, said neck having a wall with a threaded means therein;

la one-piece C-clip having a lock plate interconnecting a brace piece and a tension finger, said brace piece being engageable with said wall of the neck, said tension finger being engageable with the bead of the carburetor air horn;

and fastening means cont-acting said lock plate and coacting with said thread means for removably attaching said clip to said neck and for urging said lock plate toward said neck, whereby said tension finger coacts with the bead to urge said neck toward engagement with the bead.

4. An air cleaner assembly according to claim 3, wherein said thread means is a threaded bore and said fastening Imeans is a bolt extending through a bore in said lock plate.

5. An air cleaner assembly according to claim 3, wherein said tension finger forms an obtuse angle with said lock plate so that a spring relationship exists therebetween.

6. A bead clip for attaching together a carburetor air horn having a bead thereon and an air cleaner having a neck being telescopically received on the air horn, said clip comprising:

a lock plate having an inner and outer surface and a first and second end, a brace piece integral to said lock plate at said first end and extending inwardly from said inner surface for contacting an outer surface of the neck of the air cleaner;

a tension finger integral to said lock plate at said second end and extending inwardly from said inner surface to form an angle therewith, and engaging the bead of the air horn; and fastening means extending from said lock plate in engagement rwith the neck for removably securing said clip to the neck and urging said clip towards the neck to cause said tension finger to coact with the bead to telescopically move the neck on the air horn into engagement with the bead.

7. A bead clip according to claim 6, wherein said fastening means comprises a bolt extending through an opening in said lock plate for being threadedly received within a bore in the neck of the air cleaner.

8. A bead clip -according to claim 6, wherein said angle formed by said tension finger is an obtuse angle so that a spring relationship is provided between said lock plate land said tension finger.

9. A clip for attaching together a carburetor air horn having an external bead and an air cleaner having a neck telescopically received on the air horn, said clip comprislng:

a one-piece member having a center portion interconnecting a pair of legs extending outwardly from one side, one of said legs being engaged with an outer surface of the neck while the other leg being engaged with an underside of the bead on the `air horn -to maintain said center portion in spaced relationship with the telescoped neck;

and fastening means extending `from said center portion and being engaged with the telescoped neck for securing the clip thereto and for tensioning said other leg on the bead to urge the telescoped neck towards engagement with said bead.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 685,237 10/1901 Holley 292-256.71 1,331,005 2/1920 Duncan 292-25671 1,941,294 12/1933 Eck et al. 292-256.71 2,065,293 12/1936 Scudder 292-256.71 2,601,172 6/1952 Sebok 55-507 3,242,672 3/1966 Keen 292-256.71 3,277,876 10/1966 Abts.

1,896,640 2/1933 Moulding 55--510 HARRY B. THORNTON, Primary Examiner.

B. NOZICK, Assistant Examiner. 

